Making-up clowning...

I'm Kirsty, the make-up designer on Clowning Around. Just wanted to chip in and talk about what I've been up to. So far it's been a lot of fun, giving me the opportunity to work on something I haven't really done before - clown make-up. I love the dynamic, as it's really an ensemble project. Coming up with ideas for the designs, I've spoken many times with the director and costume department to make sure we're all on the same page - with ideas for the shoot and colour palettes. From the beginning it was clear to me that we had very similar views on the look we were going for.
As for the crew, well some I've collaborated with many times before and for others it's a new and exciting experience. The level of creative talent and passion everyone has is great, making the project almost feel not like work at all; everyone is moving to make something great.

Costume Fitting - 27.06.2011

As we gear ourselves up for the stills shoot next week, we have scheduled a number of costume fittings and makeup tests. For this, Katerina, Kirsty and Antonia need to see each actor to fit them for their outfit and try out a few options so all elements complement each other and then make final alterations in time for Thursday 7th and Kirsty needs to experiment with her designs so we know exactly what we want and there we are more prepared on the day. First up on Monday, was Bill Thomas who plays the lead character of BONZO in the film.

The ideas behind this costume have changed dramatically, partly through the list of visual examples Katerina supplied me with when we first started discussing ideas. Originally, we were going to have him dressed more traditionally in the sense he had big over-sized trousers and braces and a jacket that was too short for him. But when Katerina showed me an image of Pierrot clowns really liked the simplicity of it and the elegance and tradition it alluded too. It creates a nice conflict in him looking like he is in a big baby grow and yet a classiness and romanticism which I thought added a lot more to the character. You can see Bill's thoughts on the difference of the costume here http://vimeo.com/25768052

In order to fit the costume, Katerina had created a mock-up with Calico fabric, so what we were seeing wasn’t correct in terms of fabric and colour, but in fit and feel. It was a perfect fit and as Bill stood there, you could already see he was trying to fit the character. To accessorize the look, she added frills and a ruff. Whilst I like this addition, one part I was not sure on that she had suggested was the ruff as it looked a bit too camouflagey so we will now try something with polka dots or just a frill. Now Katerina knows this fits Bill, she can dye the fabric yellow and add the correct details (buttons, trim) once I have had a look at a few other options this Thursday when we do our final fitting.

For makeup, we really liked to se his face behind the makeup, so went with just very simply doing just eyes and mouth. The look for eyes was really good, but Katerina thought we should exaggerate slightly and I agree, so will make them a little bigger and more oval at the top.

We then came across a small problem – Bills beard. Bill has another project lined up and dependant on when they will be shooting may have to keep it. If he has to keep it for the stills we will work around it, although fingers crossed the shoot won’t be for a week after our photos so he can grow again as he will appear in the film without a beard and would be good to see this in the photos. Kirsty and Bill both discuss the look of the makeup and its issues here http://vimeo.com/25762525

It is fantastic to see the ideas take a physical form and the effort everyone is putting in to promote the film so this can be something that really makes its mark.

Next up is Mr. Fernelli (Matthew Jure) and Jerry the Barman (Alex Walker) tomorrow!

Costume and Makeup meeting...

I had arranged to meet with costume designer Katerina Dipla and our new make up designer Kirsty Phillips in Cafe Des Amis in Covent Garden today, but my usual habit of picking cafe's that are not open again prevailed and we ended up going to the Machiaveli Cafe on Long Acre, just down the road. This is the third time this has happened to me in a row, I really should pick places I definitely know will be open!

The purpose of the meeting was to marry up our thoughts about costume and the overall colour pallette with Kirsty's ideas for makeup, with a view to the stills shoot in early July. I had sent Kirsty some images as a guide and she had (despite her two day jobs) brought some ideas with her so that we could pin it down and start buying items for the costume fittings and makeup tests, which will be done across three days next week.

We went through each character individually, and came up with the ideas that Bonzo should not be a full whiteface clown as he should come across as a bit more simplistic and child like with curved outline just around the eyes and mouth and also so we could see more of his humanity without being totally covered in makeup. As a contrast, Mr. Fernelli will be completely whiteface with angular makeup with more vibrancy in the colour, in union with his more magician like appearance and to highlight the difference. Another thing we are cementing is that for the stills shoot (rather than the film) Bonzo needs to be more 'at his best' and be presented as a worthy adversary to Mr. Fernelli, rather than appearing more ragged and unkempt, as he will do in the short. After discussing this for an hour or so, we all felt we were going the same way and it is now up to Katerina and Kirsty to source all the items required. We have a textiles factory and makeup distributor who are hopefully supplying us with some free stuff, so hopefully we can limit the budget somewhat!

It will be great to start with items being purchased this week and the ideas becoming a reality. It was also pretty cool to get Kirsty on board as well, as she is someone who always turns up enthusiastic and full of ideas and an awareness of the parameters of how we are working.

As we continue to build our team, it was cool to hear a comment from Katerina, who said the reason she is so enthused about the project is not just because she gets to make outfits for clowns but that every single one of the people involved are not only very talented but also productive, enthusiastic and forthright with their opinions to get the best result for the film. I always like to be at the centre of this kind of team, we don't have to be the best of friends, but there has to a respect and willingness to get it all done the best we can, so its nice to hear!

After the meeting, Katerina showed me a few items she had in mind in some shops on Charing Cross Road, including a stunning orange number which I took a photo of, but will save for showing until we have the costume fitting with Kiki next week!